In Twilight and Dawn
by BlackInkedPen
Summary: Hilde reminisced her last encounter with Siegfried. With different destinies to fulfill and being seemingly worlds apart in their status, how will they address the fact that there was something deeper within their friendship than what they thought there was. SiegfriedxHilde. OneShot.


_Author's Notes_: I had always wanted to do a Siegfried and Hilde fic. I felt sad when I learned that in SC5, they never became together as a couple. Namco has a way of breaking its pairings.

Well, here it is...

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Soul Calibur or its characters. I am merely a fan fiction writer.

**In Twilight and Dawn**

In the lores of old, there were those who were ill-fated to meet their half only to be separated by destiny like a sword slicing a piece of cloth in two. However, with destiny, sometimes the separation was not temporary and cannot be sown back together with thread and needle. And though both live in parallel with the other, they live like the sun and moon together, like the past and present that exists at the same time, like the dead and the living that cannot embrace each other, like the back and the front of the human body—although they appear side by side, they were destined to never lay their eyes on each other. They may desire and fight against its tide but somehow, there would always be a force to pull them apart because that was what was written about them.

They have their consolation at best. Somewhere in time, they would have points where they gain contact like the sun and the moon at dawn and twilight. And that was the best they could get.

Neither could decide which was better because after each, one would leave the other behind and both would go their separate paths.

The sun would rise and then it would set, replaced by its counterpart.

-0-

The autumn breeze was cold to the skin. Its cool was utmost cruel because unlike the winter where the cold left the skin numb, autumn's gale strikes the skin and marks it with pain. It caused the body to shiver and wanting for warmth. Moreover, autumn was an event of sorrow because it signalled the end of life and the beginning of barrenness.

And so its mood set the disposition of one lady in the middle of the forest. She lay in her cot inside her tent staring at the blackness in front her. Her wavy reddish brown curls of hair were a mess behind her head. She was trying to relieve the moments of bittersweet...

Of pleasant and of ache...

It was a night she would gladly remember but mourn afterwards at its memory.

Earlier that evening, at twilight, she recalled, they sat at the center of the mass of people that was her nation's army. It was the night before the final battle. It left the people anxious and tensed.

Also, it was the night she would last see him.

The flames of the bonfire flickered and danced before their eyes as if to give them entertainment. It gave its best performance in order to, at the most, set a curve on their lips in a smile. Sadly, there was none. Each stared absently at it: Hildegard von Krone, the lady who was the royal princess of her army, and Siegfried Schtauffen, the blonde warrior in tattered armor who has begun to be held in high regards by her subjects. It caught their eyes like a spell and drew them firmly.

"Siegfried..." at last the lady broke the spell and the warrior stared at her. "What are you thinking?"

"Just drifting..."

The lady smiled and chuckled.

"What?" Siegfried asked non-humorously.

"It is just that ever since I have met you, you are always drifting. It is hard to be surprised with that answer. Come on! Tell me something in your mind. Something different from that serious face, dull monotonous voice and the 'just drifting' line of speech."

Siegfried merely stared at her blankly.

"Oh, come on. I have shared so much stories of my life to you so I think it is a bit unfair that our conversation is usually one-sided. You have got to talk sometimes, too."

He turned his face towards her and a very faint, almost unnoticeable smile crept up his face but was gone thereafter as he turned it back towards the bonfire.

She lightly punched him in the arm.

"What was that for?" he said as he rubbed the arm as if it was hurting.

"For laughing at me."

"I wasn't laughing."

"Oh, yes, you were. I saw that sneer in your face and you were laughing."

Siegfried appeared to be stunned.

"However faint that was, I noticed it!"

"I was just... smiling."

"Well, with that expressionless face of yours, stoic even if the whole world exploded in your face, that faint smile should be interpreted as laughing."

With that, he broke into a soft laughter. It was a surprise to her; it was the first time he broke into that grin and away from the stone-like expression. She noted it in her mind and took pleasure in it. She laughed with him quietly as she leaned over, her shoulder tapping his.

"That can be interpreted as laughing hard at me," she said mock sternly.

His laughter ended and he was back into his spell-like gaze at the flames. She looked down at the ground beneath the skirt covering her legs, hooked into her arms in an embrace. She bit her lip as she hid a smile.

She remembered so well how difficult it was to break his barrier to which he had hidden himself from everyone for so long. Two weeks and all she accomplished were getting him to smile and chuckle. She relished the thought that for once, she saw him in this expression and for her, a big portion of that barrier was breached.

There was so much in this person that intrigued her. As she spent more time with him, the more mysteries, rather than answers were revealed to her. That didn't daunt her or stop her from poking and peering at him every now and then. Also, since he didn't speak so much, there was so much opportunity for her to tell the things in her mind without the fear of being judged in her face. By and by, he had become her confindant. Quiet as he was, she knew that he was listening, nevertheless. She trusted in the way he looked at her whenever she told him important facts about her life and things that seemed astonishing.

What communicated deeply with her were his eyes. It was as if they were the only ones in him that spoke to her. The slight furrowing of his brows, the shifty movements of the eyeballs, the faint squinting or enlargement—they told her deeper than his verbal speech ever did.

She recalled the first time they crossed roads in the battlefield. They were forced to depend on each other. At that time, she admired how valiant she was in battle and she thought that he never feared anything. Later, she saw that he was the opposite. He was laden with most of the fears of mankind.

He had shoved her away, trying to dispel any budding attachment upon them. She had wondered why he did so before. Later, she knew. It was because he was afraid. He was afraid for her and for him. He was afraid of being hurt and hurting others. He was tired... but mostly afraid. Fate kept on bumping them on each other however. His attempt to shun her proved futile and over time, he had gotten used to her. He never drove her away again.

That was the start of their friendship. Or atleast it seemed to her.

"Are you thinking about the battle tomorrow?" she asked him.

"No. I'm not," was his reply.

"Then, are you thinking about the things _after_ the battle?"

He didn't reply.

A crack of boisterous laughter emerged from the side and the sound of voices around them got louder attempting to drown their attempt of a conversation. It drew their attention and once again, the spell that bound their eyes to the flickering flames was broken.

"It is getting quite noisy here. I would like to head to the forest for a breath of fresh air. Would you like to join me?" she invited him. He gave a nod and off they went. They left behind rows of tents with torches and bonfires all about. The night bustled with activity, noise and lights within the camp. The men were attempting to drown their anxiety of the upcoming battle with amusement and merriment.

Soon, all these were far behind them as they entered the trail into the forest. Its peace was a marked contrast with the atmosphere of the camp.

"I'm sure it would take some time before they found out that their princess has slipped away with all their merriment. Such lot!" she chuckled in amusement. She caught him staring at the brilliant moon, full in its face and unobstructed by wisps of cotton-like clouds.

"You're drifting again," she stated, now without the humor she previously had.

He grunted quietly in affirmation.

"What is bothering you? You look especially sullen today."

She drew closer to him, watching as the moonlight shone across his serious face with strands of golden hair messily brushing it.

"You don't really need to do this..."

"What?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

"Being attached to me. You know what their fate brought them because of me."

She strode quickly to the space in front of him, face hard with pain and determination.

"Every man or woman who has known you has ultimately fallen to death's touch— I know what you said—"

"And still here you are. You are a foolish woman to be persistent with me."

"I thought we were past this. We had gone through so much and do you not see that it is not fate alone which dictates the direction of our destiny? We steer it as well."

"I speak of what experience had taught me!"

"And I speak for what mine had!"

Siegfried wasn't able to reply but his scowl said it all. Hilde sighed and her frustration streamed on her face.

"Why are you like this? Stop keeping me in the dark. What is your problem—?"

"You!" Siegfried replied fiercely.

Now it was Hilde's turn to be dumbfounded and speechless. She was shattered by his statement and confused by it. Her open mouth couldn't find the words to reply to him and all she could do was shake her head vaguely in protest. There was so much pain in her eyes due to his words which stung greatly. She wanted to utter the question 'why' but couldn't bring herself to do so. With tears starting to form in her eyes, she spun around and started to go back to camp.

Now, it was Siegfried's turn to sigh in frustration as he quickly brushed his hair with his fingers.

"Hilde!"

His voice, like a command, caused her to freeze in her movements.

Without turning to face him, she awaited him. He hesitated.

"I... I have lost so many of those I cherish. You don't know the guilt that had plagued me for each of them which I still carry on until now. The hunger for their presence which I knew would only be left unsatisfied only makes this terrible burden heavier. I thought this yolk had steadied in its weight but here you come, threatening to make it twice as heavy. This madness must stop here and now!"

She spun immediately and stared at him with tear-soaked eyes. She had thought that her efforts to reach into him were naught, like pounding through a huge boulder with bare hands. His statement caused a glimmer of hope to shine through her heart.

"I swear to you that I won't give you the very things that you fear. I have sworn to be your ally and friend and I am determined to remain by your side as long as you need me. I will never leave you hanging on the promises that I have uttered."

Siegfried saw in her determination and seemed to admire her for it as he examined her with his eyes. Still, however, a flicker of darkness streaked onto his face.

"You know that what you are telling me is impossible. We are never meant to be. _No one_ is ever meant for me!"

"I dare the impossible."

"You are a princess and I am a homeless, guilt-laden sword-wielder with a horrible past that nobody can accept."

"I had accepted you long before you'll ever do."

"Maybe you have and maybe it will take eternity before I do but the people of your kingdom, looking at you in high regard as royalty, are another matter. What will they think of the princess having association with a man who was once their brutal enemy and who slaughtered them mercilessly and whose past was that of a beast—a... a monster?"

"It is I who choose whom to be associated, not them. I believe that you are who you are now and not what you had once become. It is that person I had come to trust and care for. It is that person that I had gladly spent these past few days with and will cherish the memories created from them all my life. I choose to be your friend if that is what you truly wish."

Each turn of their conversation brought them a step closer to each other. By the time Hilde was finished with her last speech, they were almost face to face with each other. Their breaths were warm on each other as each panted with tension.

"No..." Siegfried declared in a raspy voice. "I wish for something more."

With that, he took her jaw into his hands and pulled her face into his. His lips found its way into hers and what started gently proceeded in full passion.

She was stunned at first at his abrupt and aggressive approach. She gasped as her eyes went wide while he kissed her. Slowly, however, she was drawn to his desire and passion. At the back of her mind, days before, this was what she desired as well. Her eyelids drifted to a close as she tasted the lips of the man who had lived in her heart before it had awakened. She drank the warmth of his lips that pressed onto hers, leaving her breathless and shaking.

She felt time freeze in its essence and the world disappear in their background. There was only him and her. The trees and the moonlit ground had disappeared. The night ambiance and the cool grazing of the autumn breeze on their napes had gone as well. Nothing was more significant than this event.

The moment his lips parted with her, she felt herself tremble while her knees were almost ready to give way. She hugged him tighter for support as he nestled his face on her ear whispering things that she couldn't comprehend but fully understood. She shivered with fear and coldness as she felt them the moment she saw in him security and warmth.

Again, he parted with her, his fingers tenderly caressing her face as he stood half a foot from her. Her eyes searched his as they gazed upon each other.

"I can never be with you," Siegfried said. Hilde never took her gaze from his eyes as she drank his sight. Finally, she understood it now. Despite her protests and reasoning, he was right. They were worlds apart. She had a kingdom to fight for and redeem. He had a destiny to fulfil and a past err to right. She lived on top and he was at the bottom. She was in life and he was in death. She was the sun and he was the moon.

She nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I know. But I want this moment with you to be memorable. I want to make it last longer. Let us stay like this for a little while more," she begged.

He could never be acceptable in her kingdom, royalty she may be. One way or the other, people would know who he was and they would gather upon him and fall upon him to punish him for his crimes.

"If destiny had been written a different way, I would choose—"

"—Hush! I want to live for the moment with you. The past, the future, the 'what ifs', they don't matter now."

She could never be a part of him. He was like the wind. He was fleeting. He believed that the design of his existence was meant to be short. Perhaps it was so.

They lingered for as long as they could in the forest until one of her men came to bring her back. Each returned to their own tents. In her own quarters, she lay awake, refusing to sleep. At dawn, he would be on his way. He would probably leave without saying goodbye to her. For this reason, she wanted to prolong the time she knew his presence was still there. Although she couldn't see him or hear him or feel him, the knowledge that he was still there was the best she could get from him.

Unfortunately, unknowingly, she had drifted to sleep and when she awoke, it was dawn. Now, it was time for her to mourn.

The moon had left its counterpart.

The sun was on its own.

-0-

_Fine_

-0-

_Author's Notes_: I hope you enjoyed this little fic. Please leave a review.


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